Outboard motor safety hitch



Nov. 28, 1961 A. B. PRICE OUTBOARD MOTOR SAFETY HITCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Oct. 2, 1959 INVENTOR AGENT Nov. 28, 1961 A. B. PRICE 3,010,686

OUTBOARD MOTOR SAFETY HITCH Filed Oct. 2, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3 4FIG.6 .5 34

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INVENTOR An'rao B. Pale:

AGENT United States Patent Qfifice 3,010,686 Patented Nov. 28, 19613,010,686 OUTBOARD lVIOTOR SAFETY HITCH Arthur Basil Price, Moosomin,Saskatchewan, Canada Filed Oct. 2, 1959, Ser. No. 844,136

4 Claims. (Cl. 248-25) This invention relates to motor boats and moreparticularly to a safety hitch for outboard motors.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an outboard motorsafety hitch which will prevent the outboard motor from leaving themotor supported transom of the boat, to thus prevent damage and loss.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a safety hitch forsecuring an outboard motor to a motor boat transom which will secure themotor in place and prevent disengagement thereof from the transom.

Still an additional object of the present invention is to provide anoutboard motor safety hitch of the above type which can be readilyapplied and removed and which can be adapted for use with all types ofmotors and motor boats.

Other objects of the invention are to provide an outboard motor safetyhitch bearing the above objects in mind which is of simple construction,has a minimum number of parts, is inexpensive to manufacture andefficient in operation.

For other objects and for a better understanding of the invention,reference may be had to the following detailed description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front plan view of an outboard motor safety hitch assemblymade in accordance with the present invention in actual use;

FIGURE 2 is a side view of the safety hitch assembly shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of a mounting member forming a part of thepresent invention;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3, of another mounting member;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of a main mounting bar forming another part ofthe present invention;

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of a cross bar forming another part of thepresent invention;

FIGURE 7 is a plan view of a screw eye forming another part of thepresent invention;

FIGURE 8 is a plan view of a tensioning device of the present invention;

FIGURE 9 is a plan view of a flexible cable forming still another partof the present invention; and

FIGURE 10 is a plan view of an anchor member for securing the cable tothe screw eye in accordance with the present invention.

Referring now more in detail to the drawing, an out- 7 board motorsafety hitch assembly 10 made in accordance with the present inventionis shown to include a main mounting bar 12 having a central opening 14through which a cross bar 15 extends. The main mounting bar 12 also hasan opening 16 extending through the upper end thereof through which aflexible cable 18 is slidably received. The lowermost end of the mainmounting bar 12 is also provided with a transverse bore 20 that supportsthe central portion of a bail member 22 having guideways 24 whichreceive the mid portions of the cable 18 and guide them toward securedengagementtwith the outwardly extending lugs 26 of a cable anchor member28. The cable extends through the central opening of a screw eye member30 that is attached to the transom 32 of the boat and is secured to thecable anchor member 28. Thus, the free ends of the cable 18 carried uponthe lugs 26 of the clamp 28 are effectively locked in assembly with thescrews eye 35 by the engagement of the lugs 26 with the screw eye.

Each end of the cross bar 15 is provided with a transverse bore 34 whichpivotally supports a pair of mounting hooks 36, the ends of which arebent at right angles, passed through bore 34 and riveted, allowingmovement of the hook in either direction to accommodate motor tighteningbolts of different widths and also to enable one to remove hooks fromthe thumb screws of the motor.

When the motor is applied to the transom board 33, as shown in FIGURE 2of the drawing, the engagement of the hooks 36 with the motor bracketand the securement of the cable 18 to the screw eye 30, thus preventsupward movement of the motor relative to the transom board 33, thuspreventing the motor from becoming dislodged from the boat. The cable 18is maintained in tension by extending it behind the cross bar 15 andforwardly over the guide portions 24 of the bail member 22. However,this tension can be released simply by disengaging the cable from thebail member 22, following which the upper end of the main mounting barwill tilt downward toward the transom thus reducing tension on the cableand the hooks can be lifted from the motor mounting bracket 38, to allowthe motor to be removed whenever desired.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it shallbe understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope ofthe present invention as defined by the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

1. An outboard motor safety hitch comprising, in combination, a mainmounting bar comprising an elongated rigid rod having a centraltransverse opening and transverse openings parallel to each other andsaid central opening at each end thereof, a cross bar slidably extendingtransversely through said central opening of said main mounting bar,mounting means for attaching said cross bar to mounting clamps of anoutboard motor, securement means for attaching said main mounting bar tothe motor supporting transom of a boat, said securement means comprisinga flexible cable slidably extending through said one end opening of saidmain mounting bar, and anchor means attaching the opposite free ends ofsaid flexible cable to the transom of the boat and tensioning meansextended through said other end opening of said mounting bar fortightening said cable and preventing rotation of said mounting bar aboutsaid cross bar.

2. The combination according to claim 1, wherein said mounting meanscomprises a pair of hooks one secured to each end of said cross bar forsupported engagement upon the mounting brackets of the motor.

3. The combination according to claim 2, wherein said anchor meanscomprises an anchor member secured to said opposite free ends of saidflexible cable, and a screw eye carried by the transom of the boatslidably receiving the mid sections of said opposite ends of saidflexible cable means slidably receiving the mid sections of the ends ofsaid flexible cable.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,537,651 Carpenter Ian.'9, 1951

